Australia Develops Space Program With Russia

Chuq writes: "ABC News has details of a joint space effort between Australia and Russia. Australia will be providing launch locations on the Christmas Islands and Woomera (central Australia) and Russia will be providing.. well, experience! As I'm an Aussie I'm glad to see us finally making our first move into the space arena, no matter how small!" Imagine this happening even, oh, 10 years ago.

Comments

Goodbye Ozone

[FFFish]

Perhaps I've been poorly misinformed, but don't rocket launches release a shitload of ozone-depleting chemicals?

Australia already has a lotta trouble with skin cancer. Can't imagine launching rockets right into the ozone hole is gonna help 'em any...

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Someone's gotta do it.

[derrickh]

This is good. Otherwise we'd only have NASA reaching into space, and let's face it, NASA's been dragging their feet(which have been shackled by congress).

Maybe this will lead to another space race. I can already picture G.W.Bush saying,'The first man on Mars will be an AMERICAN man, not a kangaroo!'.

D
Mad Scientists with too much time on thier hands

Re:When the US was a world power

[mech9t8]

Which is why I'm wondering how the hell the Russians keep getting in the news for space-related stuff. First Tito, now this? Where the hell was the US? This isn't a criticism of Russia, but considering the funding difficulties they're having at the moment, they're sure as hell going out there and actually doing stuff. We seem to just be sitting on our asses and spending fifty time as much money to do so!

That's just a bit silly. Tito and this are happening solely because of the money - you think Russia's not making a handsome profit on this deal? Same with Tito... they *needed the money*.

Why aren't the States getting these? Because the $20 million that Tito paid is a drop in the bucket for NASA. Why is that? Bureaucratic inefficiency? Concern with safety to the point of standstill? Maybe, a bit. But the main reason is our engineers, workers, equipment suppliers, etc. are paid American wages. The Russians are paid in Russian wages, which are orders of magnitude less, when they are paid at all.

In any case, "sitting on our asses?" Being the primary builder and organizer of the International Space Station, possibly the largest construction project ever, bringing together the US, Canada, ESA, Japan, Brazil, and, yes, Russia and having it (minor issues with Russians aside) actually work? 6-8 shuttle missions a year? That's "sitting on our asses"?

Is there more we could be doing, space-wise? Yes. Could we be doing what we're doing better? Sure. But you shouldn't deify the Russians just because they're desparate to hawk their wares.

(Not to desparage the Russian space program, which, for most of its life, probably bested the Americans. But until they get their economy in good shape, launching tourists in 60's era Soyuz vehicles is probably the best they'll be doing for a while...)
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Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies.

When the US was a world power

[sharkticon]

Ah, those were the days. When we were a nation that actually did something rather than reflect on past glories.

But well done to Austrailia for moving an important step closer to a true space program, something that any nation that wishes to remain or become an economic player needs. Already the economic impact of space is being felt in the expanding telecommunications industry, and we can only expect this to become more important in the coming decades.

Which is why I'm wondering how the hell the Russians keep getting in the news for space-related stuff. First Tito, now this? Where the hell was the US? This isn't a criticism of Russia, but considering the funding difficulties they're having at the moment, they're sure as hell going out there and actually doing stuff. We seem to just be sitting on our asses and spending fifty time as much money to do so!

With the ending of the Cold War it seems that this nation has lost a hell of a lot of gumption and has been content to let things happen without it. The US has gone from being the most respected country in the world to being the whipping boy of third-world nations with poor human rights records, all in the space of a few decades. And what's worse, nobody cares! Read the papers here, and it's all mindless US propaganda aimed at keeping the proletariat happy and patriotic.

And then there's our illustrious president. I honestly can't decide whether he doesn't care about the rest of the world, or if he's trying to recreate the Cold War, but this time with China. Either way, I feel almost ashamed that there are nations out there moving foward, and that we're not one of them.